Mille Lacs Ojibwe leaders yesterday called for cooperation and friendship after
the Supreme Court ruled in favor of treaty rights. The decision affirmed an 1837
agreement allowing eight tribes to fish and hunt without state regulation in
east-central Minnesota. The court case made for fractious relations between
Indians and non-Indians around Lake Mille Lacs. Yesterday, both called for
healing.

SINCE THE OJIBWE SUED FOR TREATY RIGHTS in 1990, Chief Executive Marge Anderson
has sounded at times defensive, at times frustrated. But stepping to the
microphones Wednesday under a cold March sun, her manner was gracious and
relieved.

Anderson:
Today, the United States has kept a promise; a promise that our rights are not just words on paper, a promise that agreements are made to be honored, not broken.

Anderson addressed about 200 band members, including a few dozen elders hunched
in overcoats against the wind. She thanked the elders for supporting her during
the long court battle. She thanked Ojibwe ancestors, who she said also struggled
against great odds. Then, closing her short statement, Anderson offered a
traditional Ojibwe prayer as an olive branch to those who spent the 1990s
opposing treaty rights.

Anderson:
Great Spirit, teach us love, compassion, and honor; that we may heal the earth, and heal each other.

The Supreme Court's ruling means the eight signatory bands to the 1837 Treaty
will spearfish and gillnet this spring as planned. 55,000 of
walleye will be divided among the tribes. The decision affirms the joint
management of the lake by the Band and the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources. Business owner Paul Meleen, whose restaurant and gas station cater to
sportfishers, says the ruling means the Ojibwe will have to live up to their
promises of maintaining a healthy lake.

Meleen:
And I will tell you this from this community: they will have lots of people watching closely. And if they do mess up, they're going to get caught. They have now put themselves in a position where they will be held accountable.

Other treaty opponents sounded more conciliatory; in fact, they sounded like
former treaty opponents. Judy Caine, representing the Mille Lacs Tourism Council, spoke at the Band's press conference.

Caine:
It is now over. We're going to move on, and the healing that's talked about is that we all will adjust to whatever our personal feelings might have been, and work together as a community. And the Band has proven to us in the past, that they're willing to do that, and so are we and the rest of the resorters that I represent around the entire lake.

Caine noted the absence of violent protests last year when the tribes went
fishing, and predicted there will be none again this year. Another resorter
insisted treaty rights are no longer a problem, but simply the law. And a tribal
spokesman called Wednesday's event the death and burial of the issue, and said
Mille Lacs leadership has spoken its last word on the matter.